


Someone Who Wanted To Be Free [ II ]

by barkingbird



Series: A New Start In Enderal [2]
Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Enderal (Video Game)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-07
Updated: 2017-07-07
Packaged: 2018-11-28 23:10:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11428206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/barkingbird/pseuds/barkingbird
Summary: Not all days are worth remembering, especially not that specific one.As a beaten and bruised ex-wench and dancer she tried to rebuild her life, but as it turns out, life rarely works in one's favor. Yet again the young Nehrimese woman Kaminka throws away what was once hers and heads into a new direction, a new life. To Enderal.The Story of the Prophet starts at the very beginning. But this isn't the story about the Prophet alone. This is a story of someone who wanted to be free.





	Someone Who Wanted To Be Free [ II ]

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again folks,  
> the second drabble comes rolling, next one will be more on Yrmir and Kaminkas past. These short stories are great warm-ups.
> 
> Kaminka and Jespar are actually travelling together now, though the atmosphere is tense and uncomfortable. Not much happening (yet). ;)

**Slipping Away.**

 

“If you ask me, this ‘Red Madness’ isn’t even a thing. Yero was a troubled man with a troubled past. Doesn’t matter if he was a Keeper or not, he’s still human. He just went nuts.” Kaminka almost choked on her last phrase, muffling it through a mouth full of bread.

“Maybe. But that just would be too simple.”

“Humans _are_ simple, Jespar. You’ve said so yourself.”

Rest had come too easily that night. The two of them were only halfway to Ark and the unusual amount of sleep had made the young woman talkative. Jespar didn’t seem to mind, just as she didn’t mind his company.

It made things easier, not travelling alone for once.

He scoffed at her remark, though his eyes hinted at amusement as they wandered from the campfire up to her own.

“Not even with you am I safe from my own words.”

“Especially not me.” A chuckle from her, a smile from him. Not enough to hide the fact that both were drenched in blood and sweat, but enough to keep the awkward silence at bay. It had been haunting them since they’d met.

The sun stood low, sitting on the horizon like a marble. And it was only one of the sights Kaminka had learned to appreciate since her arrival. Unlike Nehrim, Enderal was full of diversity. The sun coast, for example, a warm and electric area only a day’s march from the icy and unchanging mountain passes like the one they were resting on right now. Jespar had told her about Ark, too, but she had a hard time imagining it.

A city like no other. And maybe a new home.

Swirling thoughts were interrupted by the sound of metal slapping on metal. Jespar was the sounds origin, roasting a rabbit they had caught earlier on an iron stand over the small campfire. His skill with the blade was unmatched by anything the girl had seen before. The concentration and focus that made his every movement look fluid must’ve been the result of years of practice, fending for himself. She had to admit, she didn’t expect to find that kind of finesse here in Enderal. It made her wonder how many tales of the peaceful propagated continent were true, and which ones were just that, tales.  As if he read her thoughts he began to shift in his seat, directing his attention back at her.  
A few glances at her revealed his intentions to her before he even got to voice them.  

“So, any first impressions of our holy countryside, ladyship?” She’d never get used to him calling her that.

“My feet are sore.” She responded. “I expected the ground to be of silk and glass made of the blood of the Light-Born.” Her throat twitched as she tried to keep her voice stern.

The girl felt his eyes rest on her, almost in shock it seemed.

“Some wild tales you must have heard, huh?” The exchange stopped for a moment Jespar took to slice a few stripes of meat onto their plates. Kaminka detested the smell but now wasn’t the time to be picky. Instead of taking the plate he kindly offered she began to unbuckle her belt. The rough leather armor she looted from a bandit earlier didn’t fit her as well as she’d originally hoped. There had been barely any time to ease her back ache or salt-burned skin either. Jespar had at least urged her to tend to her more serious wounds earlier that day but even those were already rubbed open again and uncomfortably glued to her garments through sweat, mud and dry blood. Slowly shifting out of the old gambeson and now rusty chainmail, Kaminka recounted the week’s events.

Everything that happen thus far appeared so muddy. Accuracy of events shifted with every minute passing as she tried to remember them. Slipping away. The only thing holding it all together was what she had from before. Before the crash, before Sirius’ death.  Before it all went to ash.

The scars and bruises, the sore marks on her skin mixed with swollen patches and pulsing slits that covered them? It all seemed like a dream. And a bad one at that.

Jespar was the one thing holding it all together. More or less. But at least he was familiar in some way.

And that was the most comforting thing she had at her disposal right now. And if honesty was told, he was the only one as well.

He watched over her as she stripped to her undergarments, sticking to her body in the most uncomfortable way. And as both of them resumed to their first and last meal of the day, night settled over their shoulders, wrapping everything in a coat of black and blue.

They rested next to each other with never less than one eye open.  Just today Kaminka had lied to him more times than she could count. About her origin, her home and motivations to go to Enderal in the first place and how much she missed a warm, full tavern. She knew that he would leave as soon as they reached Ark. There was no point in telling him the truth now or ever.

But the lies would be enough for now. Maybe one day she could feel like a better person than she really was. As long as _he_ believed it, she could keep on pretending.

Jespar’s eyelids fluttered as he was dreaming and Kaminka took the opportunity to write her first letter as she assured herself that he was as fast asleep as he looked.

Yrmir, her cousin and last remaining family needed to know what happened.

 

_“My dear Yrmir._

_Our plan didn’t work as expected. You probably already know. Sirius is dead and I am alive. We were discovered shortly before we arrived in Duneville harbor and the captain threw us overboard, wounded. Sirius didn’t make it off the ship alive. His death was quick and his last thoughts were only directed at your well-being._

_I never wanted you to find out like this, you have to believe me. He may have been your fiancé but he also was a friend of mine. My only one._

_Shortly after I stranded, two apothecarii found me and tended to my wounds. I don’t even remember their names. They were slain by bandits on the same night. So much for Enderal’s peaceful reputation._

_It seems all this death has left its mark on me. My new travelling companion, Jespar Dal’Varek, explained that my exhausted state of mind is some kind of “arcane fever” but I am not sure if I can trust him just yet._

_He promised me a cure for this “fever” in exchange for a helping hand on a sensitive investigation. I doubt there’s much to find on this topic in Arazeal but please, if you stumble upon any reports on recent occurrences of mad behavior and red-glowing eyes, I would appreciate it if you’d send them to me right away. The sooner I can get this over with, the sooner I will be able to cure my fever and build something here. And the sooner I get to travel alone again, the better._

_I miss you and if I could somehow trade my life for Sirius’, I would. Be strong cousin. I will not let his death be in vain.”_

She closed her eyes, head resting on the still freshly inked paper. She started crying.

She would start again tomorrow.

 


End file.
